German Chancellor Olaf Scholz loses confidence vote, paving the way for a February election

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has lost a confidence vote in parliament, putting the country on track for an early election.

Mr Scholz had called the vote after his unpopular three-party coalition collapsed at the beginning of November. He had hoped to lose the vote as it would pave the way for an early election.

Germany's president must now decide whether to dissolve parliament and call the election, which would be held on February 23.

Mr Scholz won the support of 207 in the 733-seat Bundestag - Germany's lower house. 394 members voted against him, and 116 abstained, leaving the Chancellor far short of the majority of 367 he needed to win.

The chancellor leads a minority government since his three-party coalition collapsed on November 6, after he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalise Germany's stagnant economy.

Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held in February, seven months earlier than planned.

The confidence vote was needed because Germany's constitution does not allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself. Now, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an election.

Mr Steinmeier has 21 days to make that decision. He is not expected to respond until after Christmas. Once Parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days.

In practice, election campaigns are already well underway, with Monday's three-hour debate serving as a reflection of that.

Mr Scholz said he plans to "modernise" Germany's strict rules on running up debt, to increase the national minimum wage and to reduce value-added tax on food.

But his centre-right opponent Friedrich Merz criticised the Social Democrats' plan as "running up debt at the expense of the younger generation".

Another point of contention between politicians is the war in Ukraine.

The chancellor highlighted Germany's commitment to Ukraine, but underlined his insistence that he will not supply long-range Taurus cruise missiles, over concerns of escalating the war with Russia.

"We will do nothing that jeopardises our own security," Mr Scholz said.

But Mr Merz, whose Christian Democratic Union is currently polling much higher than Mr Scholz's party, said they did "not need any lectures on war and peace."

His own party has been open to sending long-range missiles, but stressed that the political rivals were united in "an absolute will to do everything so that this war in Ukraine will end as quickly as possible."

Although the Christian Democratic Union are polling in the lead, Germany's political system has become increasingly fragmented, with more parties in the Bundestag than ever before.

The far-right Alternative for Germany, which first entered the Bundestag in 2017, is now polling strongly at 18%.

They have nominated their own candidate, Alice Weidel, for chancellor, but they lack the support needed from other parties to form a coalition - meaning they will be unlikely to lead.

Germany's electoral system traditionally produces coalitions, and polls show no party is anywhere near a majority on its own. The election is expected to be followed by weeks of negotiations to form a new government.

Confidence votes are rare in Germany - this was only the sixth time in its postwar history that a chancellor has called one.

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